Sometimes I forget how dull plain USA grocery stores can be. I've had this point covered in class even, multiple times (agriculture & ecology, floristics, in case you're wondering). Somehow the colors and shapes can still distract me enough that occasionally I forget 90% of the stuff you'd find in your local equivalent of Safeway is derived from something like only seven ancestral species (e.g. cauliflower, radish, mustard greens of any kind, broccoli, all Crussiferae). Then I'd go to a different grocer's which, in my case, is frequently Asian, and I'd get things like taro and caltrop. I dithered for about five minutes in front of the tray this morning, because although I like to eat them but I'm pretty sure that I don't have the time to eat them right now(the shell requires both fingers and teeth and will likely result in smudges on my homework if I try to do both at the same time -- not as multitask-friendly as carrot sticks). The same thing did happen the other time I got taro. I ended up having to throw them away. It was very sad.
I did finish both papers I have to read for Monday, with the sheets perfectly clean. I'm not entirely sure I understood the bit on chemical engineering (they all have guanines, all the R groups are hydrophobic, I can't tell what other electrostatic what-ever-you-cal-its are important) but that's the way it goes. One of my classes is going to start the unit on heart diseases next week, so hopefully that'll be interesting (and will no doubt involve NFkB, because it is everywhere and involved in everything).
I also (finally) finished season one of Due South today, bring me to: 1) ouch...I mean, nice, but the progression to darker themes is apparently not a linear, but exponential scale and 2) this show's got the most awesome soundtrack ever. The fact that I know who Ray Kowalski is shows up at odd moments, when I'd wonder what he'd do in such and such scenario. Mostly I just feel bad for Ray Vecchio. A lot. And then spend half an hour mulling over Truepenny's analysis of the episodes (that's her lj username, google it and read her meta under "due south" tags if you haven't already, Lucy) which continues to be insightful without being dense. I feel like it rounds up my Due South experience very nicely.
Next up? Pushing Daisies. Going to get caught up on that.
Starting next weekend.
20090131
20090129
Lucky break
New moderator today. He was a more talkative individual, and between him and the course instructor (who did not appear to suffer afflictions of psychological origins today) the class was kept well entertained and I was saved from having to talk too much.
In fact, they took up so much time that I was a little behind on time and was ordered to rush through two of the figures in my paper. I did get picked on for my summary slide, where I wrote "complex forms" instead of "complex is activated" since based on the paper it's not possible to know whether or not the protein complex does form or not, only that it's activated at the time point of interest (it could be still in a complex, just inactive the rest of the time). All in all though, I got off fairly lightly. My presentation is over and I say thank goodness and good riddance.
My cells are growing very slowly. If they don't grow faster I'd be going through my entire rotation without accomplishing anything except getting the sequence for part of a protein.
I got a new USB stick today, since my mp3 player is still out and my other USB drive that I tend to carry around with me is only half Gb and has lost three gel electrophoresis photos in as many days. The campus bookstore happened to have a sale on Kingston datatraveler today and so I got a 4 Gb one. (They didn't have many types -- it was either that or a white and pink one / white & greyish one. So I got a dark blue & silver one that looks like the one in the photo. Zach's favorite colors!) It is shiny.
Learning to use the new camera on the microscope tomorrow! Also up: more cells.
(What's the temperature like where you guys are? It's insanely warm today here. I'd given up on my sweater by lunch time and was wandering around in my shirtsleeves.)
In fact, they took up so much time that I was a little behind on time and was ordered to rush through two of the figures in my paper. I did get picked on for my summary slide, where I wrote "complex forms" instead of "complex is activated" since based on the paper it's not possible to know whether or not the protein complex does form or not, only that it's activated at the time point of interest (it could be still in a complex, just inactive the rest of the time). All in all though, I got off fairly lightly. My presentation is over and I say thank goodness and good riddance.
My cells are growing very slowly. If they don't grow faster I'd be going through my entire rotation without accomplishing anything except getting the sequence for part of a protein.
I got a new USB stick today, since my mp3 player is still out and my other USB drive that I tend to carry around with me is only half Gb and has lost three gel electrophoresis photos in as many days. The campus bookstore happened to have a sale on Kingston datatraveler today and so I got a 4 Gb one. (They didn't have many types -- it was either that or a white and pink one / white & greyish one. So I got a dark blue & silver one that looks like the one in the photo. Zach's favorite colors!) It is shiny.
Learning to use the new camera on the microscope tomorrow! Also up: more cells.
(What's the temperature like where you guys are? It's insanely warm today here. I'd given up on my sweater by lunch time and was wandering around in my shirtsleeves.)
20090128
When I'm sixty four
Second presentation of the quarter tomorrow. I think I have at least three more to go, at least two of which should require powerpoint. Oddly enough, even the prospects of doing a lab presentation is no where near as intimidating as the presentation I'll be facing tomorrow. Although lab presentation is presenting my own work, the presentation tomorrow involves me facing off the instructor who was so exasperated with us on Tuesday that he did an actual face-palm and said "Aaaaugh" in the middle of the class. He also (semi) joked about how if we're the graduate students that he really has to speak to the admissions committee and how at metaphase we're the chromosome that lagged behind and caused the whole cell to be delayed through M-phase.
On one hand, this is possibly the most educational class I will be taking this school year. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about being insulted by the instructor. I am, however, very clear on what I feel about the instructor, which is mostly along the lines of "stop trying to fish for answers, I have no idea what you're trying to get at" and lucky for me (and unlucky for the instructor, as proven by the face-palm) I am not alone in my sentiments.
Well, we shall see what we shall see. If you guys don't hear from me in a week, assume that the instructor has bitten my head off due to my gross incompetence at presenting research articles.
...
My current PI is fascinated by the gene gun. He wants me to try to use it to blast brain slices (we're trying to transfect a construct with glowing GFP reporter into neuronal tissues). I am slightly apprehensive, since my knowledge of the gene gun is that it's to be used on plant cells, when all other transfection methods have failed because of, usually, the type of cell wall involved. I also have trouble taking the instruction manual seriously, since it uses words like trigger and bombardment and includes instructions on how to shoot animals with it (which I think is silly and a waste of material, but explaining why will take me too long). That the PI has made a pun about aiming it at thieves to give them cancer has not helped one bit.
The fact that we make our own cartridge out of a suspension of gold (I assume because it's relatively inert) and DNA gives "the gold bullet" a whole new meaning.
Though...brain slices. I can feel vegetarianism lurking in my future.
On one hand, this is possibly the most educational class I will be taking this school year. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about being insulted by the instructor. I am, however, very clear on what I feel about the instructor, which is mostly along the lines of "stop trying to fish for answers, I have no idea what you're trying to get at" and lucky for me (and unlucky for the instructor, as proven by the face-palm) I am not alone in my sentiments.
Well, we shall see what we shall see. If you guys don't hear from me in a week, assume that the instructor has bitten my head off due to my gross incompetence at presenting research articles.
...
My current PI is fascinated by the gene gun. He wants me to try to use it to blast brain slices (we're trying to transfect a construct with glowing GFP reporter into neuronal tissues). I am slightly apprehensive, since my knowledge of the gene gun is that it's to be used on plant cells, when all other transfection methods have failed because of, usually, the type of cell wall involved. I also have trouble taking the instruction manual seriously, since it uses words like trigger and bombardment and includes instructions on how to shoot animals with it (which I think is silly and a waste of material, but explaining why will take me too long). That the PI has made a pun about aiming it at thieves to give them cancer has not helped one bit.
The fact that we make our own cartridge out of a suspension of gold (I assume because it's relatively inert) and DNA gives "the gold bullet" a whole new meaning.
Though...brain slices. I can feel vegetarianism lurking in my future.
20090126
Don't ask me why he's still in a Santa hat but...
...it's Chinese New Year and Zach gets to play with sparklers! (Hee.)
(Courtesy of Lucy; hi!)
20090125
20090124
The powerpoint is NOT coming along
Oh my God proxy settings. Why? Why?
I think more tea is called for.
I think more tea is called for.
Only a first year
I've never had anyone feel sorry for me because I'm a first year before. It's a novel and unnerving experience, when I was patted on the back in a "you have a long way to go yet, young grasshopper, I'm glad I'm not you" kind of way.
I went out and got a bar of chocolate.
The two events may or may not be related.
Further update on my apartment hunting: I have found more studio apartments. They continue to be more expensive than my current one bedroom. The cheapest one is currently a hundred dollars per month more expensive so we'll see -- if the managers of my current place decides to raise the rent I might move to the place behind Ralph's, since it's closer to campus and has the studios on the top floor so I feel less like I'm living in a cave (that is possibly connected to the Arctic in some secretive magical fashion that I'm currently unaware of).
We'll see.
I should also mention that there is wind outside today. Possibly up to five mph. However, since it rained earlier and in all likelihood will rain again later, it's still not the ideal kite-flying weather. (By the way, the kite came with a manual that warns me to not pull a Benjamin Franklin, because the manufacturer will be held responsible for the consequences &c &c.)
There are also blueberries, which have improved my day considerably. I'm going to make tea in a continued effort to improve life.
I went out and got a bar of chocolate.
The two events may or may not be related.
Further update on my apartment hunting: I have found more studio apartments. They continue to be more expensive than my current one bedroom. The cheapest one is currently a hundred dollars per month more expensive so we'll see -- if the managers of my current place decides to raise the rent I might move to the place behind Ralph's, since it's closer to campus and has the studios on the top floor so I feel less like I'm living in a cave (that is possibly connected to the Arctic in some secretive magical fashion that I'm currently unaware of).
We'll see.
I should also mention that there is wind outside today. Possibly up to five mph. However, since it rained earlier and in all likelihood will rain again later, it's still not the ideal kite-flying weather. (By the way, the kite came with a manual that warns me to not pull a Benjamin Franklin, because the manufacturer will be held responsible for the consequences &c &c.)
There are also blueberries, which have improved my day considerably. I'm going to make tea in a continued effort to improve life.
20090123
That guy isn't a HeLa cell...
I went to a joint lab meeting / seminar / science swap at the Salk Institute today. Liz, a postdoc in my lab, is presenting, so I went to cheer her on. It was my first time at Salk (oddly enough, our orientation involved commuting to places like the aquarium, and the Burnham, but not the Salk) and the bus driver helpfully told me when we got there so I didn't end up somewhere in, say, Del Mar, by accident.
Also lab-related is the end of the Olde Schoole prep that I spent almost all of Wednesday and part of yesterday on. And also an hours this morning. It involves me attempting to pierce a vial containing cryogens, carcinogens, and heavy metal with a surgical syringe in the dark. (Well, there was UV. Of strong enough wattage to warrant a very uncomfortable face shield but unfortunately it's a lab-grade UV which means there's a lot of UV and not a lot of light.) (Er. And it also requires two points of penetration -- one to release the pressure and the other to actually draw something out.) The yield is kind of abysmal, leading me to wonder why the PI prefers this method so much. Admittedly the poor yield might be entirely because of my lack of skill (first time around with the cesium chloride, after all), but personally, I think there's a reason why all the postdocs as well as the lab tech prefer to use the Qiagen kit. In fact the only person who prefers the other method is the PI so....
For those of you who are / will be doing lab work. Zap brand pippet tips suck. Or they don't, which is more of the problem. Specifically it's the 0.1 to 10 uL, filtered and aerosol proof type. It doesn't seem to seal to the micropippet correctly so the volume distributed is very inaccurate, not to mention sometimes you just cannot get the fluid out of the tip which is ultimately very frustrating. I got to use the nanodrop spectrophotometer though, which was cool. (Oh oh did I mention I got to run my own sequencing reactions the other day? Our lab has its own sequencing machine. Way cool.)
Eight papers and a presentation next week. I'm sleeping in tomorrow morning.
Cheers.
Also lab-related is the end of the Olde Schoole prep that I spent almost all of Wednesday and part of yesterday on. And also an hours this morning. It involves me attempting to pierce a vial containing cryogens, carcinogens, and heavy metal with a surgical syringe in the dark. (Well, there was UV. Of strong enough wattage to warrant a very uncomfortable face shield but unfortunately it's a lab-grade UV which means there's a lot of UV and not a lot of light.) (Er. And it also requires two points of penetration -- one to release the pressure and the other to actually draw something out.) The yield is kind of abysmal, leading me to wonder why the PI prefers this method so much. Admittedly the poor yield might be entirely because of my lack of skill (first time around with the cesium chloride, after all), but personally, I think there's a reason why all the postdocs as well as the lab tech prefer to use the Qiagen kit. In fact the only person who prefers the other method is the PI so....
For those of you who are / will be doing lab work. Zap brand pippet tips suck. Or they don't, which is more of the problem. Specifically it's the 0.1 to 10 uL, filtered and aerosol proof type. It doesn't seem to seal to the micropippet correctly so the volume distributed is very inaccurate, not to mention sometimes you just cannot get the fluid out of the tip which is ultimately very frustrating. I got to use the nanodrop spectrophotometer though, which was cool. (Oh oh did I mention I got to run my own sequencing reactions the other day? Our lab has its own sequencing machine. Way cool.)
Eight papers and a presentation next week. I'm sleeping in tomorrow morning.
Cheers.
20090121
Fuzzy purple aggregates
Today my protocol told me that I can spin out the "excess fuzzy purple aggregates" on the Beckman tabletop centrifuge.
Sometimes the olde schoole methods are scarily like alchemy. (And I had a grand total of three seconds to reminisce about Merlin before I realized that I have to bleach all the other bottles too. Today is Bleach Everything Day. Every day with direct bacteria clone nucleic acid prep is Bleach Everything Day.)
In other news, I have finally had a chance to read through the inauguration speech transcript (yay). Kind of want to hear it (words are only half of a good speech, after all), but I don't think I'll get around to it until this weekend. Maybe I'll leave that on instead of music while I'm cooking this weekend. I've had my interview with the next PI, who has a very large lab (about three times the size of my current lab) and who promised to send me stuff to read. Except he worries that they might crash my computer. He told me that if they do I can drop by his office and he'll print the stuff out for me, which I suppose was very nice of him, although I have to wonder what kind of manuscript can crash a computer (and seriously, does his lab have special computers?). In my email I've received something that reads:
It's apparently like Speed Dating, except it's grad students only and less discriminating about gender. Kind of disturbing, actually. Though I'm half-way convinced now that speed friending may be the only way I'll find time to make friends here, since my next lab apparently has grad-student-paper-talks on Saturdays. (Whee.)
Okay. Over and out. Er. Dinner. Right.
Sometimes the olde schoole methods are scarily like alchemy. (And I had a grand total of three seconds to reminisce about Merlin before I realized that I have to bleach all the other bottles too. Today is Bleach Everything Day. Every day with direct bacteria clone nucleic acid prep is Bleach Everything Day.)
In other news, I have finally had a chance to read through the inauguration speech transcript (yay). Kind of want to hear it (words are only half of a good speech, after all), but I don't think I'll get around to it until this weekend. Maybe I'll leave that on instead of music while I'm cooking this weekend. I've had my interview with the next PI, who has a very large lab (about three times the size of my current lab) and who promised to send me stuff to read. Except he worries that they might crash my computer. He told me that if they do I can drop by his office and he'll print the stuff out for me, which I suppose was very nice of him, although I have to wonder what kind of manuscript can crash a computer (and seriously, does his lab have special computers?). In my email I've received something that reads:
Speed Friending
Tuesday, January 27th, 4pm
Women’s Center
Limited Spaced! (only 30 spots)
We are bringing back a very well attended social event last year, Speed Friending. This activity will give you the opportunity to have brief interactions with a number of other graduate students from across the campus in a relaxing and fun environment. Afterwards, we hope that you can continue the discussions and further develop friendships that have been kindled by this event.
It's apparently like Speed Dating, except it's grad students only and less discriminating about gender. Kind of disturbing, actually. Though I'm half-way convinced now that speed friending may be the only way I'll find time to make friends here, since my next lab apparently has grad-student-paper-talks on Saturdays. (Whee.)
Okay. Over and out. Er. Dinner. Right.
20090120
Back to your scheduled programming
...okay that was a long delay (class ran late, seminar ran late, lunch ran late leading into direct entry to lab, from which I have returned, with the promise that I'll get to play with cesium chloride and ethidium bromide together tomorrow).
We left off at downtown La Jolla I think, where there was an unusual amount of traffic that day going from there to the Five. Lucy and I watched Merlin, which reminds me vaguely of Dr. Who until I saw that some people from that show did work on it and then promptly stopped making the association. It's helped by the fact that Merlin is a lot easier to like than either the Doctor or Rose. Having read the legend of Arthur before there were some details that kept tripping me (I think I was expecting everything except Merlin's age to be somewhat true to the mythology) (yes it was silly, I know), the greatest of which is Morgana's identity. However, the show is sufficiently shiny / dorky / whatever to distract me. And then Lucy explained the concept of the "slash dragon" to me. Since this was shortly followed by the scene where Merlin was unconscious and calling for Arthur (ball of light very shiny) I had a "..." moment and realized that I now have a slash dragon in the brain.
Wheedled Lucy into watching Due South (and suspected that Fraser might be her type) and felt oddly triumphant when Fraser was pronounced to be "adorable". Felt sorry for Vecchio together. (Completely forgot the "She shot my hat, Ray," part. Definitely worth watching that episode again if only for that scene.)
Remembered to bring camera with self to Balboa Park this time. There was a statue of Hermes with winged feet (not sandals, feet have checked; have had Lucy re-checked) and the buildings remain awesome. Went to explore the gardens after the art museum and discovered a route that may or may not lead to nowhere. Which reminds me that on Saturday, when we encountered giant rocks on the beach, we took turns pretending to be the obligatory Kate and climbed a few. There is photographic evidence.
Sunset was lovely. I need to spend more time reading poetry.
Passaged cells on Monday, grew some colonies, and discovered one of the plate contained a piece of what may be a piece of fiber. Have concluded that will need to either be more careful while culturing cells or wear fuzzy sweaters less. Concluded that since it's winter and I need to feed/passage cells every other day, not wear sweaters is not a practical option. Will settle for being more careful about rolling up sleeves instead.
Got new papers this week. Interview with next lab's PI tomorrow. Lunch with seminar speaker was surprisingly fun and not painful.
We left off at downtown La Jolla I think, where there was an unusual amount of traffic that day going from there to the Five. Lucy and I watched Merlin, which reminds me vaguely of Dr. Who until I saw that some people from that show did work on it and then promptly stopped making the association. It's helped by the fact that Merlin is a lot easier to like than either the Doctor or Rose. Having read the legend of Arthur before there were some details that kept tripping me (I think I was expecting everything except Merlin's age to be somewhat true to the mythology) (yes it was silly, I know), the greatest of which is Morgana's identity. However, the show is sufficiently shiny / dorky / whatever to distract me. And then Lucy explained the concept of the "slash dragon" to me. Since this was shortly followed by the scene where Merlin was unconscious and calling for Arthur (ball of light very shiny) I had a "..." moment and realized that I now have a slash dragon in the brain.
Wheedled Lucy into watching Due South (and suspected that Fraser might be her type) and felt oddly triumphant when Fraser was pronounced to be "adorable". Felt sorry for Vecchio together. (Completely forgot the "She shot my hat, Ray," part. Definitely worth watching that episode again if only for that scene.)
Remembered to bring camera with self to Balboa Park this time. There was a statue of Hermes with winged feet (not sandals, feet have checked; have had Lucy re-checked) and the buildings remain awesome. Went to explore the gardens after the art museum and discovered a route that may or may not lead to nowhere. Which reminds me that on Saturday, when we encountered giant rocks on the beach, we took turns pretending to be the obligatory Kate and climbed a few. There is photographic evidence.
Sunset was lovely. I need to spend more time reading poetry.
Passaged cells on Monday, grew some colonies, and discovered one of the plate contained a piece of what may be a piece of fiber. Have concluded that will need to either be more careful while culturing cells or wear fuzzy sweaters less. Concluded that since it's winter and I need to feed/passage cells every other day, not wear sweaters is not a practical option. Will settle for being more careful about rolling up sleeves instead.
Got new papers this week. Interview with next lab's PI tomorrow. Lunch with seminar speaker was surprisingly fun and not painful.
Searching
I have approximately five minutes before class starts. I'm not sure how much I'll actually get to type but if I don't finish, expect a continuation of this post later on, 'k? 'k.
Lucy went home yesterday morning, after arriving on Saturday morning. We were very hopeful about the kite all weekend but, as she has already mentioned, the weather Gods/Goddesses just were not of one mind with us. There were also not many people on the beach with kites (read: none). It might be entirely possible that the area of beach around here is too shallow and even and the direction that the bay faces is not conductive to gloomy & stormy seas. Or maybe that's just around here. (Though the temperature here should be dropping later this week. Right now it's still too warm to wear a jacket over my sweater, unless I'm indoors.) (I would like to take a moment to mention that in terms of secret relative location to the Arctics, my lab is located much closer to the North Pole than my apartment. The tissue culture room is warmer, I kid you not.) There are craggier points up north but they are probably not very good for kite flying either. Knowing me I'd fall into a tide pool or something by accident and drop the kite, spool and all, into the ocean.
I've found someone who agrees that downtown of my grad school area is a little bit like downtown of my undergrad school. They have very good fries.
And now the class starts.
Lucy went home yesterday morning, after arriving on Saturday morning. We were very hopeful about the kite all weekend but, as she has already mentioned, the weather Gods/Goddesses just were not of one mind with us. There were also not many people on the beach with kites (read: none). It might be entirely possible that the area of beach around here is too shallow and even and the direction that the bay faces is not conductive to gloomy & stormy seas. Or maybe that's just around here. (Though the temperature here should be dropping later this week. Right now it's still too warm to wear a jacket over my sweater, unless I'm indoors.) (I would like to take a moment to mention that in terms of secret relative location to the Arctics, my lab is located much closer to the North Pole than my apartment. The tissue culture room is warmer, I kid you not.) There are craggier points up north but they are probably not very good for kite flying either. Knowing me I'd fall into a tide pool or something by accident and drop the kite, spool and all, into the ocean.
I've found someone who agrees that downtown of my grad school area is a little bit like downtown of my undergrad school. They have very good fries.
And now the class starts.
20090118
Yesterday the lj, today the blog. Tomorrow.. um. I'll get back to you.
So after hacking into Susan's lj yesterday (and by hacking I mean, "launching firefox and asking her if she was signed in" -she was), I am now taking over her blog for this evening. She's almost making me do it, actually. I think she's afraid the blog will be jealous I am lavishing so much attention on the lj. But the lj has pretty icons! I am a shallow person. *NODS*
(Kite failure continued today if you're wondering. And the dragon spent the whole weekend in the trunk of my car waiting and possibly praying for wind. This is proof that the dragon god is not benevolent. Or doesn't exist. IDK.)
Kate, if you're reading this, you may be happy to know that Susan successfully got me hooked on "Due South". I also suspect I used to watch this when I was in middle school, but all I remember is the uniform and the dog. (MY BRAIN CELLS WERE BUSY WITH SAILOR MOON. AND POSSIBLY NOT DYING IN MOSCOW WINTER.) Okok, anyway. Susan's blackberries are weird and bitter. But she says I should eat them for the antioxidants. I like blackberries! Just not bitter ones. What's up with that?
(Susan just (fine, almost) broke something with a stressball. Please revel in the irony. Thank you.)
(Also, Susan's apartment has a hidden passageway to the North Pole somewhere. It's a hot "summer" day outside, and then you walk in and it's like ~WHOOOOSHWINDCOLDWHOOSH~. I constantly expect polar bears (she does have a stuffed one, so that doesn't help). I also tried to explain the humor of OMGWTFBBQPOLARBEAR to her but failed. You guys are probably not surprised.)
Oh, right, she's reminding me that we did stuff today. WHICH WE DID! And yes, there are pictures. We went to Balboa park by San Diego zoo, and there were a lot of pretty buildings built by the Spanish, and museums and gardens and cafes and STUFF. You know stuff, right? It's pretty neat. Oh, but even before that, Susan helped me rescue/retrieve my sparkly hat!! I realized this morning that I couldn't find it and that the last place I remembered having it was at the bistro on Saturday, so we located this fine establishment's website and called them and they had my hat <333
Also we watched the sunset over the ocean tonight, and it was magical. (Yes, yes, pictures. Later.)
-Lusine
(Kite failure continued today if you're wondering. And the dragon spent the whole weekend in the trunk of my car waiting and possibly praying for wind. This is proof that the dragon god is not benevolent. Or doesn't exist. IDK.)
Kate, if you're reading this, you may be happy to know that Susan successfully got me hooked on "Due South". I also suspect I used to watch this when I was in middle school, but all I remember is the uniform and the dog. (MY BRAIN CELLS WERE BUSY WITH SAILOR MOON. AND POSSIBLY NOT DYING IN MOSCOW WINTER.) Okok, anyway. Susan's blackberries are weird and bitter. But she says I should eat them for the antioxidants. I like blackberries! Just not bitter ones. What's up with that?
(Susan just (fine, almost) broke something with a stressball. Please revel in the irony. Thank you.)
(Also, Susan's apartment has a hidden passageway to the North Pole somewhere. It's a hot "summer" day outside, and then you walk in and it's like ~WHOOOOSHWINDCOLDWHOOSH~. I constantly expect polar bears (she does have a stuffed one, so that doesn't help). I also tried to explain the humor of OMGWTFBBQPOLARBEAR to her but failed. You guys are probably not surprised.)
Oh, right, she's reminding me that we did stuff today. WHICH WE DID! And yes, there are pictures. We went to Balboa park by San Diego zoo, and there were a lot of pretty buildings built by the Spanish, and museums and gardens and cafes and STUFF. You know stuff, right? It's pretty neat. Oh, but even before that, Susan helped me rescue/retrieve my sparkly hat!! I realized this morning that I couldn't find it and that the last place I remembered having it was at the bistro on Saturday, so we located this fine establishment's website and called them and they had my hat <333
Also we watched the sunset over the ocean tonight, and it was magical. (Yes, yes, pictures. Later.)
-Lusine
20090117
Looking ahead with slightly more enthusiasm
So second week was almost awful.
Having spent part of my Saturday last weekend in lab, I felt like I didn't get the "full weekend" experience, and consequently that made me cranky. There was an unfortunate amount of reading this week and a presentation, and since the amount of time I spent per paper is directly proportional to how much of the detail I can retain (and there was a lot of details -- the papers are meant to familiarize us with different fields, so most of the papers are on things we've never heard of before and we need to figure out how all of them work before each class), the fact that I tend to get to class / lab at around 8:30 each morning and not return home until after 6 each night was not particularly helpful.
Yet somehow I've managed to get by this week without ever having to stay up later than 10pm for my homework. I did have to stay up until some unholy hour Tuesday, but that was because one of my neighbors was having a party. Since my apartment complex is full of med people, I'm a little confused as to what they can possibly celebrate on a Tuesday night, of all things (med students being somewhat more high strung than grad students in my admittedly limited experience). Glen, from the lab (and he was very sympathetic about my plight this week and offered to take out my bacteria clones for me today so I don't have to go in the lab), suggested that maybe it's a post-exam celebration. However, it's only two weeks into the quarter (and I have just figured out where the snap-top tubes are kept in lab) and I don't think midterms start until next week. Whatever, I'm just glad it's over.
Which, come to think of it, sums up my feeling of this week nicely.
My immediate future is, I'm happy to say, considerably brighter. Lucy's coming today (in about an hour, I would estimate) and I will NOT be in lab either today or tomorrow (cheers). I have enough time left over on Monday to finish the two papers due for Tuesday. The papers for Thursday haven't been posted yet and so I have nothing to worry about. In any case it's only four papers that I'm going to get quizzed on, compared to the ten of this week. My next presentation is in two and a half weeks and I have heard back from a PI who -- maybe-- was okay with me finishing my rotations in his lab. I have a sequence for my construct. It appears to match what it's supposed to be. I have a new cell line waiting in the -80C freezer. I will not have to introduce the speaker for next week's pharmacology seminar, my partner will (the students who presented the presenter's papers are supposed to introduce him/her right before his/her talk begins), and it's a relief for all parties involved.
Despite of possible forecasts of temperature change, right now the weather is beautiful and there's a giant kite-in-a-tube in my bedroom, waiting to be assembled.
(Yes Anna, we'll take photos.)
Having spent part of my Saturday last weekend in lab, I felt like I didn't get the "full weekend" experience, and consequently that made me cranky. There was an unfortunate amount of reading this week and a presentation, and since the amount of time I spent per paper is directly proportional to how much of the detail I can retain (and there was a lot of details -- the papers are meant to familiarize us with different fields, so most of the papers are on things we've never heard of before and we need to figure out how all of them work before each class), the fact that I tend to get to class / lab at around 8:30 each morning and not return home until after 6 each night was not particularly helpful.
Yet somehow I've managed to get by this week without ever having to stay up later than 10pm for my homework. I did have to stay up until some unholy hour Tuesday, but that was because one of my neighbors was having a party. Since my apartment complex is full of med people, I'm a little confused as to what they can possibly celebrate on a Tuesday night, of all things (med students being somewhat more high strung than grad students in my admittedly limited experience). Glen, from the lab (and he was very sympathetic about my plight this week and offered to take out my bacteria clones for me today so I don't have to go in the lab), suggested that maybe it's a post-exam celebration. However, it's only two weeks into the quarter (and I have just figured out where the snap-top tubes are kept in lab) and I don't think midterms start until next week. Whatever, I'm just glad it's over.
Which, come to think of it, sums up my feeling of this week nicely.
My immediate future is, I'm happy to say, considerably brighter. Lucy's coming today (in about an hour, I would estimate) and I will NOT be in lab either today or tomorrow (cheers). I have enough time left over on Monday to finish the two papers due for Tuesday. The papers for Thursday haven't been posted yet and so I have nothing to worry about. In any case it's only four papers that I'm going to get quizzed on, compared to the ten of this week. My next presentation is in two and a half weeks and I have heard back from a PI who -- maybe-- was okay with me finishing my rotations in his lab. I have a sequence for my construct. It appears to match what it's supposed to be. I have a new cell line waiting in the -80C freezer. I will not have to introduce the speaker for next week's pharmacology seminar, my partner will (the students who presented the presenter's papers are supposed to introduce him/her right before his/her talk begins), and it's a relief for all parties involved.
Despite of possible forecasts of temperature change, right now the weather is beautiful and there's a giant kite-in-a-tube in my bedroom, waiting to be assembled.
(Yes Anna, we'll take photos.)
20090115
20090112
Well
On one hand: lab is still awesome.
On the other hand: I will have no life if I join this lab (read: I just got home, having arrived at the lab just slightly after 8:30 this morning).
Then again: I've been trying to get a life since high school and it has never stuck, and this way I'll have a valid excuse when my overly-inquisitive relatives ask about my relationship status.
Hmmmm.
On the other hand: I will have no life if I join this lab (read: I just got home, having arrived at the lab just slightly after 8:30 this morning).
Then again: I've been trying to get a life since high school and it has never stuck, and this way I'll have a valid excuse when my overly-inquisitive relatives ask about my relationship status.
Hmmmm.
20090110
This is...winter?
I'm wandering around in a shirt. There are people sun-bathing by the pool. The days have been clear and sunny since the day the quarter started. I'm currently uncertain if this is the normal state of things or if this is some sort of a fluke in weather. My lab mates don't seem to be surprised by it though.
And now, to lunch!
(Lab hour got delayed because the guy who was supposed to let me in got distracted by the beach.)
And now, to lunch!
(Lab hour got delayed because the guy who was supposed to let me in got distracted by the beach.)
20090108
Out of time
I had no time for hate
The grave would hinder me
Life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity
Nor had I time for love but since
Some industry must be
The little toil of love I thought
Was large enough for me
Wow
Today's the first day when I'm asked for a CV for a lab rotation. Which means of course that the lab must be hard to get into (not too surprising, since the guy's one of the more popular PIs, but still, CV?), and that must be some lab....
Geez, now I have to dig out my CV from my backup disk. (I know they tell us to keep it on-hand and updated always, but that's like the drink 8 8oz glasses of water per day thing -- most people don't do it.)
[edit 18:06]
Also, hey lookit, my name's listed under the department's current students index. With my email address. Isn't that a little unsafe, since these are our official school addresses and that page is open access?
Geez, now I have to dig out my CV from my backup disk. (I know they tell us to keep it on-hand and updated always, but that's like the drink 8 8oz glasses of water per day thing -- most people don't do it.)
[edit 18:06]
Also, hey lookit, my name's listed under the department's current students index. With my email address. Isn't that a little unsafe, since these are our official school addresses and that page is open access?
20090106
Chargers?
The bus stop that goes closest to my apartment is closed these two days, which is a bit inconvenient. The bus that I rode on today kept switching its display between it's route/destination and "Go Chargers!", which I really can't be bothered with to look up at this point, but presumably it's a team of some sort.
Also, I got home at 7pm today. One of the classes ran over time so I had almost no break from 8:30am till 1pm (two classes and a seminar), lab went just after six (tissue culture + bacteria transformation), so the day is a little grueling.
On the plus side: the 5-6 class period thing that is this afternoon apparently doesn't really exist. (It was meant to be an extension of the 10 to 12 class except not.) On the plus side: I really like the current lab -- it's small, the PI is funny (and weird -- extremely weird), and I like everyone there, from the PI (I like weird people) down to the two undergrads, and at the current juncture they appear to like me back. One of them even spent considerable effort to chase down a cell line for me so that I can have a easy line to work with to make my own neuronal cells. (Day: 2; cell lines passaged: 2; papers read: 3; papers to read: 5; times that I started off in one direction only to remember that the equipment I needed is in the other direction: 10+) On the minus side: the PI is extremely weird (read: talks in continuous punch-line style and offers me extensive advice on modern day science...and possibly cooking) and the lab work is likely to be very intense, once I get into it. (I didn't get to see the mice yet. They're apparently in a high security vivarium and the amount of time it'd take for my paperwork to go through is likely to be longer than the duration of my rotation.)
Classes are yet to be determined. They currently involve a lot of papers, at least two written assignments and two more presentations. My education today went: inflammation, cell cycle, phagocytosis, cell culture! I wish there was better transition (or at least a ten minute break between the subjects) but eh, what can you do?
Cheers people! I've gone back to wet lab and all things considered, life is good.
Also, I got home at 7pm today. One of the classes ran over time so I had almost no break from 8:30am till 1pm (two classes and a seminar), lab went just after six (tissue culture + bacteria transformation), so the day is a little grueling.
On the plus side: the 5-6 class period thing that is this afternoon apparently doesn't really exist. (It was meant to be an extension of the 10 to 12 class except not.) On the plus side: I really like the current lab -- it's small, the PI is funny (and weird -- extremely weird), and I like everyone there, from the PI (I like weird people) down to the two undergrads, and at the current juncture they appear to like me back. One of them even spent considerable effort to chase down a cell line for me so that I can have a easy line to work with to make my own neuronal cells. (Day: 2; cell lines passaged: 2; papers read: 3; papers to read: 5; times that I started off in one direction only to remember that the equipment I needed is in the other direction: 10+) On the minus side: the PI is extremely weird (read: talks in continuous punch-line style and offers me extensive advice on modern day science...and possibly cooking) and the lab work is likely to be very intense, once I get into it. (I didn't get to see the mice yet. They're apparently in a high security vivarium and the amount of time it'd take for my paperwork to go through is likely to be longer than the duration of my rotation.)
Classes are yet to be determined. They currently involve a lot of papers, at least two written assignments and two more presentations. My education today went: inflammation, cell cycle, phagocytosis, cell culture! I wish there was better transition (or at least a ten minute break between the subjects) but eh, what can you do?
Cheers people! I've gone back to wet lab and all things considered, life is good.
Hohum
Originally posted on 12/31/08 at 15:17 according to blogger:
Things to do between now and next Tuesday:-load car-get to SD-check and go through all snail mail-reply to all the mail that requires replying-vacuum change sheets do laundry &c-get food. The perishable kind that contains more vitamins than preservatives-print out my schedule / classroom assignments, because despite of the fact that everything is in three buildings, there are an uncommon number of rooms in those three buildings (one of which is five floors tall, not counting the basement or the annex basement)-get all the files I need onto the netbook, which I have decided to name Ivy-clean up Daemon. Again-get the antivirus thing going on Ivy
-make sure everything's charged, set alarm-get all school supplies-upload all photos, organize and upload them as zip files, post download links somewhere-reorganize my bookshelf with my new collection of books-pay back Charlie the 5$ that I owe him-get my security / access card paperwork filled out for my next lab, unless the PI decides for whatever reason that I don't need itDon't need it.-mail Gina about the 12 weeks in 10 weeks plan, though need to check and recount in student planner before mailing(with finals week + spring break we get twelve weeks, will need to check with third lab PI to see how that turns out, will need to find third lab first...)
-scout for the lab after the next lab-bug Lucy for her class schedule, and Kate for her final's schedule
HAPPY NEW YEARS!
Anything more insightful (i.e. about the start of a new year and such) will have to be detained until at least 9 days from now.
20090104
What happened?
Just suddenly remembered that waaay back I used to watch the Zeta Project on WB. Which, of course, meant that I watched maybe four, five episodes of it. Though now I wonder what the heck happened to it. I watched a LOT of WB my first two years in America (mom actually forced me to watch tv--I remember arguing with her about it because I wanted to read my Chinese books, which I could actually understand, after a day spent at school and of course mom wanted me to pick up English faster and so...). I also remember something that seemed to be called "Bruno the Kid". Watched a few episodes of X-men (the animated version, and Kurt was my favorite character, which just figures). Then there were random things with squirrels and giant chickens and a girl named Katie that could explode and, to be honest, I still don't really understand those episodes even when I pull up complete fragments of those memories. (Giant chicken dressed up as human? What?) Grew a deep fondness for the song & dance that Wacko, Yako (that how you spell it?) and Dot did though. After I've acquired enough English to figure out that hey, the educational humor's kind of neat. (Simpsons took longer time to appreciate, since you need more cultural background to understand it and cultural background isn't something you can pick up in school, if you're me.)
I wonder if this is where I started setting the trend for what I will / will not watch because less face it, I hadn't had a lot of choice / time / exposure to different genre of tv before this. (Cultural Revolution = total embargo on all things foreign, Shakespeare was burnt, Beatles never made it into the country, and there were ballet dancers who were tortured for no reason other than the fact that they are participating in a foreign pass time. Once again, idea is good, but trying to carry it out via the general public is utter disaster.) (The first foreign tv show I remembered watching is some sort of Japanese Anime, the first thing of western culture is either Bugs Bunny or a really old version of Zorro.)
(I'm afraid I'll start humming "Pinky and the Brain" under my breath when I'm not paying attention, as that now I'm affiliated with a genetics lab that uses mice.)
I wonder if this is where I started setting the trend for what I will / will not watch because less face it, I hadn't had a lot of choice / time / exposure to different genre of tv before this. (Cultural Revolution = total embargo on all things foreign, Shakespeare was burnt, Beatles never made it into the country, and there were ballet dancers who were tortured for no reason other than the fact that they are participating in a foreign pass time. Once again, idea is good, but trying to carry it out via the general public is utter disaster.) (The first foreign tv show I remembered watching is some sort of Japanese Anime, the first thing of western culture is either Bugs Bunny or a really old version of Zorro.)
(I'm afraid I'll start humming "Pinky and the Brain" under my breath when I'm not paying attention, as that now I'm affiliated with a genetics lab that uses mice.)
20090103
Parents, parents
My parents have just left for the return trip to Bay Area (leaving them tomorrow to recover). As much as I like going home and a part of that has to do with my parents being there, having both of them here in SD with me is...well, three people in a one bedroom apartment is one person too many. Especially when both of them are adults who are bored out of their minds (foggy day, can't go to the beach, they don't want to read any of the stuff I have here and I only let them use Daemon because my other two laptops are clean, darn it, and my parents go to sites such as creaders.com where trojans and worms abound). Of course, that means bickering. I've, frankly, refereed second graders with more tact (thank you City Year)...though I am also biased since I am running interference between my parents and I expect better of them. As long as they're kept busy, they're fine (and the whole "we won't see you for six month so we're going to buy you stuff" has resulted in way too much food and a new set of tupperware, which is nice. I needed the tupperware). I kept tripping over them for about half a day while running around unpacking and doing householdy-type errands (and slopped water on myself because someone filled the cup that I thought was empty while I was in the other room). Mom eventually got bored enough and found the copy of Peanuts that Victoria got me for Christmas and entertained herself with that (thank you Victoria) while dad went out and poked at my car. I got sent out with my dad for gas because, according to my mom, that if I let them close to each other they will start arguing (by the way, the first half of New Year's -- before everyone got mellowed out by fatigue -- sucked). Of course when they were leaving dad was so busy saying goodbye that he turned onto the wrong lane so that unless he knew that it's possible to get to the Five from the north end of Genesee -- which he didn't -- he was going to have to take a u-turn which will no doubt result in more bickering for the first hour of the trip. (At least they won't be bored?)
I love them dearly but sometimes? Good grief.
More errands!
I love them dearly but sometimes? Good grief.
More errands!
20090102
20090101
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